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Price rises will take time, says GoyderPUBLISHED: 02 Jul 2012 00:02:39 | UPDATED: 02 Jul 2012 02:55:16PUBLISHED: 02 Jul 2012 PRINT EDITION: 02 Jul 2012
Julie-anne Sprague and Marcus Priest
Wesfarmers chief executive Richard Goyder has warned it is only a matter of time before supermarket prices start rising due to the carbon tax, as suppliers start passing on the cost impact of the scheme.
Senior federal ministers including Treasurer Wayne Swan have said the big retailers would not put their prices up on the first day of the tax.
But major companies such as Wesfarmers say it will take time for increased carbon costs to be passed through the supply chain.
Mr Goyder said Coles would take a hard line on price rises, with suppliers expected to justify the genuine need to pass through higher costs to the supermarket giant. But at some point prices would start to rise, though he did not expect prices in Coles to rise today after the start of the carbon tax.
Myer chief executive Bernie Brookes said retailers would have little option but to increase prices eventually. He estimated the tax would cost Myer $4 million a year.
Energy Retailers Association of Australia chief executive Cameron O’Reilly said: “From tomorrow, the carbon price will push up the price of electricity and gas in Australia, however this is not the only reason energy prices are increasing.”
Rising infrastructure costs of the poles and wires or pipelines of electricity and gas to get to homes and businesses were also contributing to the increasing prices, he said.
Mr O’Reilly said it was important to note that energy retailers would not benefit from increasing costs. “Around 90 per cent of your bill is made up of costs from generating electricity or producing gas, along with network infrastructure costs,” he said.
Mr Goyder said it was yet to be determined what flow-through impacts there would be to energy costs and packaging costs for retailers.
“We will have to deal with those as and when they come along. Where there are energy-intensive processes you would expect it to come through. It [price rises] is not surprising given the fact that there is a compensation scheme in the expectation that some prices will go up,” he said.
Yesterday, Mr Swan visited a Woolworths to check that prices had not increased from Friday.
“Today is the day that Tony Abbott is going to be mugged by the truth,” Mr Swan said. “The truth is here in terms of these products that have been purchased here at Woolies behind us.”
Mr Brookes said: “I get quite humoured when politicians come out and say ‘business has got to reduce their carbon footprint’. Jesus Christ, we spent the last five years working hard to reduce those costs, we have an environmental conscience already.
“We get the costs passed onto us through electricity, trucking and freight costs. We just tendered our electricity business for one state and the winning tender was a 37 per cent increase on last year,” he said.
“Most retailers are hurting at the moment through the cost of labour and rents, so you can’t expand your margin further. You are left with no alternative to pass those costs on.”
Treasury modelling shows the carbon tax will increase overall prices by 0.7 per cent in 2012-13, with food increasing by less than 0.5 per cent.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has been given an extra $13 million to help it take action against misleading or deceptive claims about carbon pricing, with businesses facing fines of as much as $1.1 million if they make false and misleading claims about the impact of the carbon tax.
A survey by Australian Industry Group released yesterday showed 40 per cent of manufacturing businesses, 40 per cent of services businesses and 44 per cent of construction businesses will try to pass the tax on to consumers. Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox said 60 per cent of construction material suppliers, 82 per cent of communications services businesses and 48 per cent of retail traders planned to increase prices.
with Matthew Cranston and AAP
The Australian Financial Review
|Companies||Wesfarmers Ltd, Myer Holdings Ltd|
|People||Richard Goyder, Wayne Swan, Bernie Brookes, Cameron O'Reilly, Tony Abbott, Innes Willox|
|Topics||Politics /Federal Politics , Consumer Goods & Services, Economy /Taxation|


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Honda Motor Co. will invest $2.75 billion in General Motors' autonomous vehicle operations, including plans to develop and deploy a purpose-built self-driving vehicle.
The Japanese automaker gets a 5.7 percent stake in GM Cruise LLC for the investment, which include an immediate $750 million and yet another $2 billion for development and deployment of self-driving vehicles within the next 12 years, GM and Honda executives said Wednesday.
Honda, based on GM CEO Mary Barra, can provide Cruise with engineering, design and technology expertise and help with the company’s “global reach as well as the chance to deploy at-scale.”
“It will eventually really expand Cruise’s leadership within the development and deployment of autonomous technology,” Barra told reporters Wednesday along at the company’s technical center in suburban Detroit.
The investment values Cruise at $14.6 billion — $3.1 billion over when SoftBank Vision Fund, a prominent technology investment firm, announced wants to invest $2.25 billion from the operations in May.
That deal gave SoftBank a 19.6 % stake in GM Cruise, like Cruise and Strobe Inc., a lidar company GM acquired in October 2017.
The announced partnership sent GM shares up 2.One percent to $33.99 since 10:27 a.m.
The investment from Honda comes roughly nine months after GM announced wants to launch public ride-hailing services with self-driving vehicles that don't have manual controls just like steering wheels and pedals, beginning in 2019.
GM President Dan Ammann said the coming year “continues to be objective,” however he stressed that safety is the determining factor on if the vehicles launch.
Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt, inside of a post on Medium, said the provider has already started “quietly prototyping a ground-breaking new vehicle over the last 2 yrs that is certainly fully released on the constraints of getting a driver driving.”
“Developing a new vehicle that’s an incredible buyer, optimal operational parameters, and efficient using of space is a ultimate engineering challenge,” he wrote. “We’re going to repeat this right, and by joining forces with Honda we’ve found the ideal partner to make it happen.”
Ammann, who oversees Cruise, on Wednesday said the auto stands out as the first purpose-built vehicle at-scale that’s “devoid of the constraints associated with to contemplate vehicle design all night . a person within the wheel, and all the traditional methods of that.”
“This takes us in the true way ahead for mobility,” he explained, later declining use a timeline for production or deployment of these car or truck.
Cruise’s current self-driving fleetis in accordance with the Chevrolet Bolt EV. Up to date iteration of the car took out the manual controls just like petals and steering wheels, however still has the standard interior of the car.
Vogt, while in the post, questioned why shouldn’t the “car of your future” include “giant TV screens, a minibar and lay-flat seats? Maybe it should,” he wrote.
A teaser photo of your nose with the vehicle released Wednesday shows a rectangular, pod-like vehicle with large vertical illuminated headlights. Ammann, with a call with investors Wednesday, said the plan is perfect for GM, not Honda, to manufacturer the vehicle.
GM was supposed to begin testing its autonomous vehicles this coming year in Ny. However, Barra on Wednesday said the provider is focusing its current efforts in San francisco bay area.
“We’ve really refocused the efforts make sure that we have been as efficient as you can in order to deploy safely,” said Barra, adding the company continues “early work” from the The big apple. A company spokesman confirmed Cruise has completed mapping streets inside city.
Ammann described the Honda partnership as having “a running start,” as the automakers previously partnered for the development of other advanced technologies. He known as relationship backward and forward companies “longstanding and deeply trustful.”
Honda’s investment in GM’s Cruise comes four months following the two companies announced offers produce a new generation of batteriesaimed at cutting costs and accelerating the companies’ rollout of electric vehicles.
The companies also previously formed an advanced-technology alliance announced in 2009 between GM and Honda, that were concentrating on advanced hydrogen fuel cells for deployment in 2020.
Honda Executive Vice President and Representative Director COO Seiji Kuraishi, via teleconference Wednesday, said Honda hopes the collaboration “will further strengthen” the company’s efforts and partnerships with GM.
When inquired on reported conversations between Honda and Google’s self-driving affiliate, Waymo, Kuraishi declined to directly touch upon those talks.
“As we’ve announced today, we thought we would announce an upmarket collaboration with GM and Cruise,” he was quoted saying by way of a translator.
While the tie-up is different on Honda’s end, GM seriously isn’t ruling out adding other partners to Cruise.
“When it comes to other partnerships and opportunities, we’re going to evaluate things when they arrived but we have an incredibly well-resourced plan plus a huge pool of talent behind this effort now that’s planning to enable us to be as quickly as we can,” said Ammann, adding the organization has long been “extremely selective” in facing partners.
The article "Honda to invest $2.75 billion in GM's Cruise autonomous vehicle unit" originally appeared on autonews.com

domain: news


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Having experienced the high prices for commodities like steel, copper, aluminium, and other important metals and the erratic challenges due to the semiconductor shortages, the automotive industry has and will continue to function.
What is remarkable is that despite all odds, some passenger vehicle manufacturers have managed to find the way out while others struggled and few lost their ground. For electric PVs in India, the sales, however, saw an upward trend. The first half of 2022 noted the highest ever half-yearly for electric passenger vehicles standing at 20,440 units. The month of June witnessed all-time high sales with 4,451 unit sales with Tata Motors taking the lion’s share of 92 per cent of the total electric PV market share.
Reckoning with the launches, the ease in the supply chains functioning, the increase of consumer interest for SUVs, and the festive season after the long halt caused by the pandemic – every factor contributing to the smooth growth of the PV segment and the same demand can be anticipated to sustain for a good time.
As reported by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the auto industry body suggests that the Q1 for the last five fiscal years has been consistent with the PV segment standing at only 1 per cent CAGR.
Taking into account the half-yearly growth graph of PV makers, few lost the market share while others gained by attracting more consumer traction over their new product-tech-feature offerings.
The launch of Tata Nexon is believed to have turned the tables for the company. Keeping the design aspect aside, what really worked for this particular SUV is the 5-star Global NCAP rating which actually caught most of the attention and inclination. Tata Motors will still have to work religiously to keep up the momentum.
The recent ado to Tata Motors’ electric product portfolio, the Nexon EV Max which comes with a larger battery pack took the final tally to an all-time high of 3,070 units, according to market reports. Accounting for 13,280 Nexon EV sales, the SUV commands a 65 per cent market share in H1 2022. This also factors in the cost factor that Tata took care of.
The Tata Tigor has also done well and the sales saw an upgrowth. The improved Tata Tigor EV that was launched in H2 2021 scaled sedan share constituting 27 per cent, becoming the second top-sold product after the Nexon.
Even MG Motors India has managed to hold the grip after facelift, the completely knocked down unit MG ZS EV settled for 300 units sales per month.
India is definitely treading the EV adoption way, but even when a lot of players are trying to experiment and bring new models, the EV sector specifically is dominated by only a handful of players. Tata Motors, leading the pack has a 92 per cent market share followed by MG Motors India with a 6 per cent share in the electric PV segment. Hyundai Kona, Mahindra eVerito, and Kia EV6 constitute a negligible share in the Indian electric passenger vehicle market with Kia EV6 wholesale standing at 16 units in H1 2022 and the rest are all fringe players.


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GM veteran Zak will head Hyundai design unit
April 1, 2009 - 4:22 pm ET
Phillip Zak has been named chief designer of the Hyundai Design Center in Irvine, Calif. He will be responsible for new-vehicle and concept design for Hyundai.
Zak, 43, has more than 20 years of automotive design experience and most recently was design director for General Motors Europe.
"Phillip's strong experience in working across multiple regions and his leadership role on advanced projects" were what Hyundai was looking for, said C.K. Park, president of Hyundai America Technical Center Inc.
Zak started his career at GM in 1988 as a designer sketching new-vehicle concepts.
During his 20 years at GM he held various positions, including lead designer, chief designer and design manager. In recent years Zak had responsibility for the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox, 2010 GMC Terrain, 2009 Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell vehicle, 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G-6.


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A Cambridge start-up aiming to rival chip designer Arm said it has made a significant breakthrough that could accelerate the development of quantum computers.
Riverlane, which was spun out from Cambridge University and is valued at £150m, has created a “quantum decoder chip”, which it claims can fix high error rates — a problem that has plagued developers trying to make quantum computers commercially viable.
Quantum computers can tackle complex problems beyond a normal computer’s ability, potentially revolutionising industries such as healthcare, sustainable energy, materials science and logistics.
However, they are prone to errors that render them useless.
Riverlane’s quantum decoder chip works by processing computer outputs and correcting errors in real-time.
“Without a decoder, the process of quantum error correction is not possible,” explained Steve Brierley, the chief executive and founder of Riverlane.
“You need a decoder to detect the errors that quantum computers are prone to and correct those errors in real time. Otherwise, you simply cannot do anything useful with a quantum computer.”
Brierley said his company’s achievement is a game-changer and propels it into a leadership position in the race to become “the next Arm”.
The Cambridge-based chip designer Arm has just made its debut on New York’s Nasdaq exchange.


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Welcome to Cruise Talk the Internet's most popular
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>>> Join Our Cruise Club.
Latest News...Costa Cruises announced that Costa Diadema will depart from Genoa today. She is the second Costa Cruises ship to return to the sea with a complement of guests. Costa Diadema's itinerary, which marks the return of Costa's cruise holidays to Liguria and the Western Mediterranean, only includes calls at Italian ports and is reserved for guests resident in Italy. After Genoa, her next ports of call will...
Latest News...Princess Cruises, today announced the sale of two of its ships, Sun Princess and Sea Princess, to undisclosed buyers. The sale of these vessels is in line with parent company Carnival Corporation's plan to accelerate the removal of less efficient ships from its fleet. "Sun Princess and Sea Princess contributed to significant growth in Australian cruising," said Princess Cruises...
Latest News...Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), which represents 95% of global ocean-going cruise capacity, announced today the adoption of mandatory core elements of a strong set of health protocols to be implemented as part of a phased-in, highly controlled resumption of operations. A critical next step, now that initial sailing has begun effectively with strict protocols in Europe,...
Norwegian Cruise Line, the innovator in global cruise travel with a nearly 53-year history of breaking boundaries, hosted a christening ceremony in Miami for its newest innovative ship, Norwegian Encore.
Over 3,500 guests consisting of travel partners, investors, government officials, media, and family and friends of Norwegian Cruise Line were invited to the pier-side ceremony and celebration at Port Miami. An interactive arrival experience indicative of the brand's commitment to world-class entertainment and innovative and meaningful experiences, encouraged attendees to share the moment and to make lasting memories. During the ceremony, guests enjoyed a showcase of the Company's onboard entertainment, which included "Choir of Man" and the Tony Award-winning "Kinky Boots." Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings; Andy Stuart, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line; and Harry Sommer, incoming president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line, welcomed attendees and spoke to the Company's history and commitment to Miami, the beauty of the new ship, her industry-leading amenities, and their gratitude for all those who ensure a memorable guest experience aboard Norwegian Encore.
"Norwegian Cruise Line has been sailing from Miami for over 50 years," said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. "We were the first to offer weekly cruises to the Caribbean from Miami, which shaped the city's reputation as the 'Cruise Capital of the World.' Five years ago, we launched our history-making Breakaway Plus class and today, we are proud to christen Norwegian Encore, the final ship of this class and a true representation of the evolution of the brand, right here in our hometown of Miami."
After the traditional blessings, honorary godmother and GRAMMY Award-winning artist, Kelly Clarkson, officially christened Norwegian Encore with the champagne bottle break across the ship's hull. Guests were then treated to a live performance of Clarkson's "Miss Independent," "Stronger," "Since U Been Gone," and other chart-topping hits.
This milestone marks the closing of the Company's most successful class of ships, the Breakaway Plus class, which first debuted in Miami with the introduction of Norwegian Escape in 2015. Norwegian Escape, Joy, Bliss and now Encore, have revolutionized the cruising industry with elevated experiences that include the world's only racetracks and open-air laser tag arenas; the most sophisticated gaming and virtual reality complexes; world-class entertainment that rivals anything on land; and new, creative culinary offerings.
Norwegian Encore will offer seven-day voyages to the Eastern Caribbean from Miami beginning Nov. 24, 2019; Bermuda, and Canada and New England itineraries from New York City beginning Apr. 22, 2020; and voyages to the Western Caribbean from Miami beginning Dec. 12, 2020. In the spring of 2021, she will make her West Coast debut and sail to Alaska from Seattle.
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In the recent past, we have come across a number of new releases from the field of technology. Of late we have come across the news that will definitely make the fans of video games really excited. The news focuses around ASUS which has managed to grab the attention of the tech enthusiasts across the world, thanks to a number gaming PCs they have launched in the recent past.
It was just a few weeks back that for the first time we came across the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card. And the recent news that has come out reveals that ASUS has come out with a new version of the GPU entitled ROG Poseidon GeForce GTX 1080 Ti. The new graphic card comes with a hybrid cooling system which will definitely keep the device running on this GPU much cooler.
Any PC with the older version of GPUs would have generated a temperature of 70 degree Celsius. However, the new ASUS ROG Poseidon GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card will keep the temperature down to 40 degree Celsius which is really incredible. And this has a lot of things to do with the increased surface area of the heat sink system. The newly launched device from ASUS comes with a 40 per cent more surface area. Also, the water flow of the water cooling block has been hiked by 20 per cent. Clearly, there is an added advantage over older GPUs.
Not only that, the newly launched GPU from ASUS comes with the patented Wing-Blade fans which are also IP5X certified. That ensures the durability of the GPU as well as enhances the efficiency of the device. The ROG Poseidon GeForce GTX 1080 Ti also comes with ASUS Aura RGB lighting which facilitates further personalization.
However, it is not yet sure when the ASUS ROG Poseidon GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is going to be available on market. It is expected that an announcement regarding that is going to be made soon. until then we need to keep on waiting for a bit.


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Session One featured our Keynote speaker, Francisco Betti who is the World Economic Forum’s Head of Shaping the Future of Advanced Manufacturing and Production.
He pegged Australia’s performance as ‘good but lagging’ behind manufacturing leaders Germany, the US, and Japan. He sees Australia as a low scale with high potential as we have many of the foundational elements are already in place.
He defined the key drivers of production every nation should invest in for manufacturing as follows:
- technology & innovation
- human capital
- global trade and investment
- institutional framework
- sustainable resources and a
- strong demand environment.
Sustainability is becoming a key pillar in decision making. The circular economy will be driven by manufacturers, not necessarily the government, and companies need to become more aware of waste not being acceptable.
Franciso says we are entering a ‘perfect storm of mega trends’ for which manufacturing needs to adapt as they affect both supply and demand. These are
- Climate change forcing change – driven by consumers and regulators. Also, just the ‘right thing to do’.
- Slowdown of global economy with trade tensions. Local eco systems being reinforced.
- COVID-19 – impact and recover. Stress test for many companies.
COVID challenges in many supply chains have also opened up manufacturing opportunities on both a regional and global basis. He said it is important to leverage competitive advantage and to invest in innovation. The pandemic has also highlighted a key weakness in the Australian manufacturing landscape, a lack of collaboration or ‘framework’ for collaboration to cater for technologies and build resilience together.
As manufacturing represents less than 1% in Australia it is imperative that Australian companies integrate into global markets to expand demand. Francisco also encouraged us to explore local opportunities to re-shore back into Australia for economic viability and an opportunity for investment in technology and innovation in markets. Should we select sectors in which we have had a historical presence i.e., automotive and look at it in a new context i.e., pharmaceutical?
Francisco flagged that we already know what the next big issue is on everyone’s radar, and it is climate change. There will be more climate change issues and crises on a more regular basis, so the need to build resilience is critical now.
He shared some strategies to help improve resilience may include:
- Supply chains
- Flexibility and agility
- Suppliers of suppliers and
- Public private collaboration to gain access into other regions vs purely global.
Francisco encouraged everyone to review the World Economic Forum’s Lighthouse network and see if there is an opportunity to get involved. Of this network of 69 Businesses, some 70% were exploring Industry 4.0 but were stuck in pilot programs and struggling to deploy. He did flag however that those who had adopted advanced manufacturing policies had been able to better face the crisis.
Our panel for this session, chaired by Lindy Hughson who is the Managing Editor & Publisher PKN Packaging News and Food & Drink Business had some key messages
Brooke Donnelly – CEO Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO)
- Recyclability does not equal sustainability
- Sustainable packaging is the future and represents opportunities for circular economy.
- All businesses need to step up and not wait
- You cannot think about the future of production without being sustainable
Dr Jens Goennemann – Managing Director Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC)
- Manufacturing is not just Production, but actually consists of 7 steps… 3 before and 3 after production
- Australia needs more middle-sized companies, to be the heroes and backbone of manufacturing
Tom Lunn General Manager – Sustainability and Innovation Detmold Group
- Progression is happening here on many levels – government legislation and industry starting to align
- Challenge to get the value proposition right when people and clients won’t pay above 15% for localisation
Dr Peter Burn – Chief Policy Advisor Ai Group
- Successful expansion into other countries using innovation is a growth path for many Australian companies due to our relatively small population size.


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Customers at Sainsbury’s will likely be inspired to maintain sporting masks in shops subsequent week despite the fact that it should now not be legally required.
The corporate turned the primary main grocery store to disclose its stance hours after the federal government printed steerage saying it “expects and recommends that individuals proceed to put on a face protecting in crowded, enclosed areas”.
Sainsbury’s mentioned new indicators and tannoy messages “will encourage clients to proceed to put on a face protecting, if they will” with employees additionally inspired to take action, except they’re behind a display screen.
“Whereas sporting a face protecting will change into a private alternative, the choice to ask everybody in shops to proceed to put on a face protecting if they will displays suggestions from clients and colleagues the place the vast majority of folks surveyed need to preserve the coverage in place,” the corporate mentioned.
Sainsbury’s, which is Britain’s second greatest grocery store chain, mentioned that some screens could be progressively faraway from shops in England however these separating clients and check-out employees would stay in place.
The retailer added that hand sanitiser stations would stay shops whereas it might proceed with thorough cleansing of trollies and baskets and deep cleansing in a single day.
Chief govt Simon Roberts mentioned: “As we reply to the latest change in authorities steerage, we all know that security remains to be high of thoughts for a lot of of our colleagues and clients.
“Our colleagues’ security is important and plenty of of our colleagues would really feel extra comfy if those that can put on face coverings proceed to put on them.
“We have listened carefully to our clients too and they’re telling us the identical.
“We’re asking everybody to be thoughtful and, whereas we perceive sporting a face protecting will now be a private alternative, we need to guarantee we greatest help and defend one another within the weeks and months forward.”
The announcement comes after bookshop chain Waterstones mentioned it might proceed to encourage clients to put on masks and observe social distancing in its shops.
Authorities tips for workplaces issued on Wednesday have been criticised by union and enterprise teams for failing to supply readability as they shift the onus on employers to handle dangers to employees and clients.
Native authorities in some components of England together with London will proceed to inform passengers to put on masks on public transport although rail and bus operator Go-Forward mentioned it might not insist that they do except ordered.
In the meantime nightclub operator REKOM UK has shunned the federal government’s encouragement that such companies ought to use COVID passports to attempt to minimise the danger of transmission of the virus.
Sky Information has contacted different grocery store teams asking them to substantiate their insurance policies.


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What Gartner says are the demonstrated habits, technology adoption and priorities of top performing companies across different industries.
Tag: digital transformation
Several major themes emerged on the first day of Symposium. Here’s what we heard from companies on the show floor.
Catalyst DevWorks is at the Gartner Symposium to help other companies better serve customers who expect a seamless digital experience.


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For months now, the Nintendo Switch and a number of select titles have been selling out. It should be no surprise then to hear the company's share price has achieved a "52 week high" according to Niko Partners senior analyst, Daniel Ahmad.
As noted, strong demand for the Switch and the lifestyle simulation Animal Crossing: New Horizons are two key factors:
Although the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in stock shortages around the globe, Nintendo has still been able to distribute enough consoles and games to bank some serious cash. The standard model Switch has been selling out everywhere, and its exercise game Ring Fit Adventure has become increasingly popular since its arrival last October.
What Nintendo products did you buy in the month of March? Let us know down below.


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Ford is making the vast majority of its commercial vehicles connected as standard to help fleet operators maximise uptime.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has announced from July 4, all vehicle approval tests will restart.
Land Rover is to launch commercial versions of its new Defender 4x4 later this year, priced from £35,500 (ex-VAT).
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) have announced that MOT tests for lorries, buses or trailers will restart from July 4.
Examining the pros and cons of agreeing long contract hire agreements
It may be done to gain competitive advantage, but overloading isn’t worth it
Every kilo saved on racking counts in the quest to steer clear of breaking load rules
Powertrains are as important as the condition of the vehicle, but consider how cool it is to spec an air-con


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KINGWOOD, Texas – Nov. 2, 2021 – Ascentium Capital LLC, a national commercial lender, announced continued growth during the third quarter of 2021. Financing volume increased $82 million, up 26% from the prior-year period. Strategic execution and ongoing economic recovery resulted in strong performance this quarter.
“Ascentium remains focused on delivering an exceptional customer experience supported by operational efficiencies, service excellence and competitive financing products. These core competencies are resonating with our clients and contributing to our positive momentum going into the fourth quarter,” said Tom Depping, executive vice president and Ascentium group manager.
Ascentium Capital offers specialized equipment financing and business loans to commercial entities nationwide. The company also provides customized finance programs for equipment manufacturers and distributers with simplified application procedures to help businesses in a broad array of industries including commercial vehicles, energy, franchise, healthcare, industrial, and technology.
“Quarter-over-quarter originations growth remains steady as we continue to satisfy our customers’ demands,” added David Lyder, senior vice president of Ascentium Sales and Marketing. “We are recruiting additional sales resources and refining existing products to keep pace with, and anticipate, our customers’ needs. Our top priority is helping our customers grow their businesses.”
About Ascentium Capital LLC
Ascentium Capital LLC, a subsidiary of Regions Bank, specializes in providing a broad range of business equipment financing, leasing, and loans across the United States. The Company’s offering is designed to benefit equipment manufacturers and distributors as well as direct to businesses nationwide. For additional information about Ascentium and its business financing products and services, please visit AscentiumCapital.com.
About Regions Financial Corporation
Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF), with $156 billion in assets, is a member of the S&P 500 Index and is one of the nation’s largest full-service providers of consumer and commercial banking, wealth management, and mortgage products and services. Regions serves customers across the South, Midwest and Texas, and through its subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates more than 1,300 banking offices and approximately 2,000 ATMs. Regions Bank is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC. Additional information about Regions and its full line of products and services can be found at www.regions.com.
Christine Kimball, Vice President, Marketing
Ascentium Capital LLC
Ascentium on Twitter: @AscentiumTeam
The Irish government has taken a serious liking to fintech. With a broad history of being active in financial services, the nation believes they can attract companies from around the world to reap the benefits of employing Irish citizens, while also tapping a major source of export revenue through an up-and-coming industry.
With access to capital for small businesses just as difficult here as it is in the US, a new fintech company looking for start-up cash may be able to turn to Dublin to get a major investment, rather than dealing with a retail investor or a venture capital firm here in the states. Enterprise Ireland, the organzation that runs these programs, is trying to tempt fintech companies looking for a fresh start or an international expansion to start that process in Ireland.
“Enterprise Ireland is the trade development and venture capital arm of the Irish Government,” said Claire Verville, Senior Vice President of Fintech and Financial Services at Enterprise Ireland. “We are a semi state agency and our mandate is to help support indigenous Irish enterprise to grow and expand in global markets.”
Just like in the United States, it is extremely difficult for an Irish business to walk into a big bank and get a loan. It’s in these situations where the Irish government has decided to make a direct investment themselves. Through Enterprise Ireland, according to Verville, the Irish government can provide capital to startups across a range of areas, in exchange for things like loan repayment or government equity in the company.
“In addition to the kind of more traditional trade development stuff that you would see from any government promoting their indigenous businesses abroad, we do invest directly in companies through equity and participate directly as a [limited partner] in funds to funds.”
Verville spoke about how the Irish government has been looking to extend funding to fintech startups for some time. “Our fintech portfolio is over 200 companies now, we have been one of the most active investors in Europe in a long time. We are one of the most active global investors across all sectors, and we’re really focused on early stage capital for fintech.”
When asked about the decision making process that goes into Irish investments, Verville portrayed it the same as if it was a private firm making the same move. “We will vet like any other investment, make sure we’re comfortable with it, make sure that the business is verifiable, and that we understand the track record of the team,” she said.
Through investing in fintech, Enterprise Ireland appears to believe they will give their small business owners better access to capital. If the industry can create a Euro-American hub in Ireland, the latest tech and funding innovations will develop there, giving access to that technology to Irish businesses first. If Irish small business lenders can use Irish technology to help an Irish merchant, everyone wins.
With financial innovation in Europe being leaps ahead of the US, Verville believes the Irish employees working in finance would be better suited to deal with some of these new innovations over Americans because of their familiarity with these systems that are already in place. She hinted at things like EMV cards being around in Ireland for years at the consumer level before they ever made it to the United States.
As far as incentive for profit, Enterprise Ireland isn’t concerned with the success of their investment from a financial perspective as other investment groups are. They instead focus on things like employment numbers and longterm sustainability for those jobs acquired through their efforts in investing in industries like fintech.
“Because we are attached to the government, we aren’t a money-making mission as far as venture capitalists go. We are focused on employment in Ireland, which is partly why it’s so important that the companies are founded in Ireland and that they are building their employee base in Ireland, and on export revenue.”
Verville spoke about how only when businesses in Ireland do well, Enterprise Ireland only does well, too. “We do make money off some of our investments, and that’s government money. We get our budget set by the government department every year, just like any other government agency.”
To be eligible for funding from Enterprise Ireland, a business needs to be based in Ireland, have an Irish LLC, and must have a significant amount of Irish employees. According to Verville, the Irish market is ripe for American small businesses, especially alternative finance.
Investigations carried out by the Receiver for Pompano-based MJ Capital Funding, have revealed that the number of investors in the alleged ponzi is more than double than originally believed.
In August, the SEC successfully persuaded a judge to place MJ Capital in Receivership after providing a convincing argument that the company was engaged in an active securities fraud and that the assets should be preserved. At the time, the SEC estimated that there were as many as 2,150 investors and that the amount raised ranged somewhere between $70M and $129M.
Now with better access to the internal workings of the business, the Receiver says that there are actually more than 5,000 investors and that they expect this number to increase, according to recent court filings.
Also revealed is that more than 400 individuals were tasked with recruiting investors.
“While MJ Capital claimed to use investor funds to provide small business loans called Merchant Cash Advances, the Receiver’s investigation to date has revealed virtually no evidence of legitimate business activity involving the funding and collection of Merchant Cash Advances which proceeds could have funded the payments to investors,” the Receiver said in official papers.
The case is ongoing.
More than 3,200 people have come out in support of MJ Capital Funding’s CEO, believing that she is also a victim in what has befallen the company.
Fundomate Announces $50 Million Line of Credit to Bring Embedded Automated Funding and Real-Time Banking to Payments and SMB MarketplacesSeptember 30, 2021
Los Angeles, September 30, 2021 — Fundomate, a leading embedded finance provider of automated business funding solutions and real-time banking tools for merchant-facing platforms, announced the closing of a $50 million line of credit with Revere Capital today. The new line of credit is Fundomate’s largest to date.
Fundomate will leverage the credit facility to scale up its partnerships with merchant-facing businesses and grow the company’s new white-label banking platform. The platform enables merchant-facing platforms and marketplaces to rapidly expand their product suite and enhance engagement by offering automated financing and embedded banking tools under their own brand.
“With the closing of the $50 million credit line, Fundomate can scale its proven automated funding platform via its one-touch funding tool already embedded within 100+ payment processing partners and marketplaces”, says Sam Schapiro, CEO and Founder of Fundomate. “We’re excited to also focus on our new embedded real-time banking platform, which uses AI and advanced forecasting to provide our partners the ability to offer their customers free short-term working capital that’s available for immediate use.”
Revere Capital Managing Director Christopher Gilker said, “We’re incredibly excited to grow with Fundomate. As I tell all my colleagues, Fundomate is a company at the right place at the right time. The team is ambitious, and I have no doubt the company will disrupt the fintech, payments, and banking space in a big way.”
Revere Capital Managing Director Suman Mallick commented further, saying, “I’m very excited about Fundomate’s potential to change how businesses manage their banking and credit needs. I believe the company will benefit from strong secular tailwinds and has vast opportunities for growth with merchant-facing businesses throughout the US.”
Waterford Capital structured and arranged the line of credit on behalf of Fundomate. Dave Piotrowski, Managing Director at Waterford Capital, said, “Fundomate has an advantage over others in the merchant finance space through the products offered through their payment processor partners. This financing relationship with Revere Capital will help take the company to the next level and further broaden their competitive advantage.”
Fundomate is an innovative fintech company that operates in the alternative lending space and provides both direct-to-business and white-labeled turnkey solutions, enabling merchant-facing platforms to offer alternative funding products to their customers as a value-added proposition.
The company has deployed over $100M to more than 2000 merchants across various industries in
the United States.
About Revere Capital
Revere Capital is a private credit manager with expertise in lower middle-market real estate bridge lending & specialty finance. The firm’s disciplined underwriting utilizes fundamental real estate analysis and research, emphasizing intrinsic value to create a diversified portfolio for investors. Revere also specializes in financing other commercial interests, consumer interests and insurance-backed interests. With a national footprint, Revere Capital offers speed, certainty of execution, and creativity to structure loans to fit borrowers’ needs and provide contractual income for investors.
About Waterford Capital
Waterford Capital is a leading arranger of structured finance and asset securitization transactions. The firm advises specialty finance companies and asset managers in connection with warehouse credit facilities, private placements of asset-backed securities, whole loan sale programs, and mezzanine and equity capital raises.
MJ Capital Funding investors holding out hope that a return to business as usual could be in the cards for the company accused of being a ponzi scheme, might find that outcome a little less likely.
The Receiver has agreed to auction off all of the assets at the company’s Pompano Beach offices on September 28, and everything must go, from the 60″ TV to the garbage cans to the houseplant.
Such powers afforded to the Receiver, a law firm partner named Corali Lopez-Castro, also gives her the ability to enter into binding legal agreements on behalf of the company, the latest ones being Consent Agreements with the SEC. In doing this, the two MJ companies (MJ Capital Funding, LLC and MJ Taxes and More Inc.), have agreed to disgorge of “ill-gotten gains,” accept a civil penalty, and be permanently restrained from continuing its former business. Such an arrangement is standard fare when companies are thrust into forced Receiverships like this one. The Receiver’s job will be to collect as much money as possible so that it can be distributed to afflicted investors.
The MJ Capital Funding Website has also been shut down. It now forwards to law firm Kozyak, Tropin, Throckmorton. Regular updates on the case are available for free at: https://kttlaw.com/mjcapital/.
The consent orders do not apply to former CEO Johanna M. Garcia individually, who lost control of the company and ability to act on the company’s behalf when it was placed into Receivership.
An astounding 3,160 people have signaled their support for Garcia in this case. That’s the number of signatures on the online petition for her located on change.org.
“Our goal with this petition is to get those funds unfrozen as soon as possible,” it says. “This is Johanna’s desire as well proving once again Johanna’s unwavering support for us and in building a strong team and community. Johanna has helped countless amounts of people and charities with the work she does local and worldwide.”
The primary defendant in the MJ Capital Funding case agreed to an extended asset freeze, court records show. Her consent is not an admission of guilt to the civil charges. The SEC has already sufficiently demonstrated its strength of prevailing in the case, which is why the judge ordered the companies be placed into receivership from the outset.
The consent order, entered on the 8th, covers 9 bank accounts held at both Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, in addition to ten credit cards. MJ Capital’s CEO agreed to live off of income derived from two unrelated businesses known as MJ Remodeling and MJ Realty to the tune of $72,800 a year combined. That could change, however, if the SEC determines those businesses are also connected with the alleged scheme. $100,000 that was paid to her lawyer in advance will stand and can be used for her legal defense.
The only unusual bank record disclosed in the papers is a purported account at a small cryptocurrency hedge fund.
Nearly 2,900 people have signed an online petition voicing support for MJ Capital accused’s CEO.
The Receiver is providing regular court filing updates at: https://kttlaw.com/mjcapital/
Justin Cheng’s website said his company, Celeri Network, could help business owners get a loan between $5,000 and $5 million. Rife with all the familiar lingo commonly found on loan broker websites, Celeri Network gave the appearance of an everyday small business finance company.
Unfortunately for unsuspecting customers, Cheng took his own approach with applicants, telling them that they had to pay upfront refundable “due diligence fees” to help them secure funding. Of course, when the funding never came through, he failed to deliver refunds to the tune of $380,000.
That was only the tip of the iceberg for Cheng who was sentenced to 72 months in prison this week for a litany of schemes including this one.
According to the Department of Justice, “Cheng used the identity of other individuals to submit online applications to the SBA and at least five financial institutions for a total of over $7 million in government-guaranteed loans through the SBA’s PPP and EIDL Program for several companies controlled by CHENG, namely Alchemy Finance, Inc., Alchemy Guarantor LLC d/b/a “Celer Offer,” Celeri Network, Inc., Celeri Treasury LLC, Wynston York LLC, and Neo Bellum Industries Inc.”
Representing also that he had more than 200 employees when he never had more than 14, he successfully secured $2.8M in PPP funding altogether.
“Cheng transferred over $1 million abroad, withdrew approximately $360,000 in cash and/or cashier’s checks, and spent at least approximately $279,000 in PPP loan proceeds on personal expenses,” the DOJ found. “These personal expenses included the purchase of an 18-carat gold Rolex watch for approximately $40,000, rent and move-in fees for a $17,000 per month luxury condominium used by CHENG, approximately $50,000 of furnishings for the condominium, a portion of the purchase of a 2020 S560X4 Mercedes, and purchases totaling approximately $37,000 at Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Burberry, Gucci, Christian Louboutin, and Yves Saint Laurent.”
Far from finished, Cheng also announced the launch of a blockchain-based peer-to-peer lending platform and sold more than $400,000 in digital tokens through “materially false and misleading statements and omissions.”
“Cheng, 25 of New York, New York, pled guilty on April 20, 2021, to one count of major fraud against the United States, one count of bank fraud, one count of securities fraud, and one count of wire fraud,” the DOJ said.
Miami, FL: Greenbox Capital® announced it is serving as a Small Entity Representative (SER) to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that is responsible for amending the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) protecting women-owned, minority-owned, and small businesses looking for financial assistance. Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act amends the ECOA by requiring certain data be collected and submitted to the Bureau to protect these types of businesses.
“It’s an honor to be selected to the industry panel providing feedback on section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act ensuring fair lending laws to women- and minority-owned businesses”, said Greenbox Capital CEO Jordan Fein. “Over 2 million businesses across the U.S. are either women or minority owned and it’s vital they can secure funding as easily as non-minority owned businesses.”
Greenbox Capital, an alternative lender, serves small businesses in all industries across the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada with the working capital needed to grow. Greenbox Capital is committed to supporting clear, secure, and fair financing solutions and is an active member of the Small Business Financial Association (SBFA).
For more information visit, www.greenboxcapital.com.


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- The price of a kilogramme of sugar jumped from KSh 128 to KSh 137 in July 2018
- Cost of kerosene went up by 36% to settle at KSh 86 per litre in 2018
- Refilling a 13 kilo cooking gas cylinder now costs about KSh 2,176
- Cost of electricity and health services also went up
A report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has revealed the rate of inflation in the country now staggers at 4.35%, an increase from 4.28% in July 2017, an indication of tough times for majority of Kenyans.
The soaring inflation rate was attributed to the increase in cost of basic commodities such as sugar, kerosene, cooking gas, electricity, charcoal and health services.
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The report by KNBS released on Tuesday, July 31, and which was seen by TUKO.co.ke on Wednesday showed the cost of housing, water, electricity, cooking gas, kerosene and charcoal increased by 0.12% in July 2018.
“The cost of a 13 kilo cooking gas cylinder rose by 0.23% in July to retail at average of KSh 2,176.31, which is 5% higher compared to same in 2018," a statement by KNBS Director General Zachary Mwangi indicated.
The cost of kerosene went up by 36.4% to retail at KSh 86.69 per litre in July 2018, whereas price of a kilogramme of sugar jumped to KSh 137.11 from KSh 128.55 during the same period in 2017.
In addition, the KNBS data showed health services also became more expensive in 2018 compared to the previous year.
However, according the report, prices of food and non-alcoholics decreased by 2.4%.
TUKO.co.ke understands new taxes, crackdown on illegal imports and contraband goods contributed to the skyrocketing cost of basic commodities and consequently a rise in inflation rate.
Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through firstname.lastname@example.org or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.
Anne Ngirita at The Center of The NYS Scam Probe - On Tuko TV
Source: Tuko Kenya


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Sri Lanka's traditional Ceylon Tea Party was celebrated in Ankara as Sri Lankan ambassador to Turkey Pakeer Mohideen Amza received Education Minister İsmet Yılmaz, foreign mission chiefs in Turkey, journalists and students.
The 150th Ceylon Tea Party was celebrated in Ankara and across the world. Amza said he was very happy to see ambassadors from around the world and Turkish guests at the reception.
Yılmaz said that all around the world the word tea reminds people of Sri Lanka, something he called "a concrete success" for the country.
"There are some countries in the world that are associated with certain things. Football comes to mind when one says Brazil. Diamonds come to mind when one says South Africa and Sri Lanka comes to mind when one says tea. It is indeed a great success," Yılmaz said.
Yılmaz said Turkey is among the leading tea importers of the Sri Lankan product, adding that Turkey is a significant market for Sri Lanka.
Amza stressed that 90 percent of the tea Turkey imports comes from Sri Lanka. He also thanked the Turkish people for choosing Sri Lankan tea.
After China and India, the world's two most populous countries, Turkey is third in tea consumption in the world.
Based on data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the average annual tea consumption per person worldwide is less than 1 kilogram, but in Turkey, each person consumes an average of more than 3 kilograms of tea annually.
China remains at the top of the list of producers worldwide, with almost 2 million tons of tea produced, followed by India, Sri Lanka and Kenya.


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New York state’s fast-food wage board on Wednesday is expected to recommend raising the fast-food minimum wage to $15 an hour, and the state’s labor commissioner is expected to approve that recommendation, according to a person familiar with the board’s plans.
The move is fairly unusual: While other cities have raised the minimum wage to $15, it is uncommon for a state to do so for only one industry.
“We’re all scared, I have to admit,” said franchise owner David Sutz, 58, who began working in fast food in 1977, as a manager trainee, and now co-owns four Burger Kings. “We in the New York market are very, very concerned that a lot of us may not survive over the next year.”
New York’s current minimum wage is $8.75, and set to increase to $9 at the end of the year.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who called for the board, has railed against fast-food CEOs, who, he said, make millions a year while workers receive public assistance.
“It costs this state $700 million a year to subsidize the profits at McDonald’s and Burger King and that is wrong and that must stop,” Mr. Cuomo said at a rally in May.
McDonald’s didn’t respond to requests for comment. Burger King Corp. said it doesn’t make scheduling, wage or other employment-related decisions for its franchisees and added that all comply with the law.
Franchisees said they would be hit particularly hard. “We’re not corporate, just the local people who are trying to support our families,” said Laura Jankowski, 52, who owns three Tropical Smoothie Cafes, a chain that sells smoothies, sandwiches and wraps. “Fifteen dollars an hour is a very, very scary number.”
An increased wage would likely mean she could have five workers around lunch time instead of six, she said.
Singling out fast-food workers, and ignoring other low-wage workers, like home-health aides, child-care workers and pharmacy aides, is unfair and discriminatory, said Jack Bert, a McDonald’s franchisee.
For others in the restaurant industry, the devil is in the details. Attorney Robert Bookman, counsel to the New York City Hospitality Alliance, said it is unclear at this point exactly how the board will define fast food.
“What we’re hearing are these horrible rumors that [it will apply to] businesses with 10 establishments in as little as two states,” said Mr. Bookman.Read the Full Article


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Formula One has launched its official ticket and travel package programme, F1 Experiences ahead of the 2017 season opener.
The packages will include race tickets, VIP hospitality and premium hotels provide, as well as experiences such as tours of the track and the pit lane with some of the sport’s legends.
F1 Experiences said it offers deals at a range of price points, with packages starting at approximately $800 (€741/£642). They will be available for purchase from tomorrow (March 23) from the F1 Experiences website.
Some of the typical Formula 1 packages would include grandstand seats, hospitality or VIP access to the F1 Paddock Club. Another would allow privileged access to the circuits including guided bus tours on the tracks and F1 Paddock tours.
The F1 Experience hub will also facilitate finding hotels, travel to and from the circuits and exclusive merchandise and premiums.
Sean Bratches, managing director of commercial operations at F1, said: “The launch of F1 Experiences offers Formula 1 fans a fantastic opportunity to get closer to the action both on and off the track.
“We want people to experience the thrill of this exhilarating sport and that is what the F1 Experience programme will deliver.”
Formula 1 has also partnered with QuintEvents, a leader in sport events travel, to deliver the experiences. Brian Ruede, QuintEvents’ president, said: “Through this partnership, we will deliver the new gold standard in fan engagement for a truly global audience.
“We have an intimate understanding of what corporate and individual fans want to see and do when they go to a Formula 1 race.
“QuintEvents’ role is to bundle the unique experiences of each circuit, along with travel requirements, into multiple package tiers and make it easy for customers to access them.”
Last year, Formula One saw a 6 per cent year-on-year rise in ticket revenues, with the motorsport series generating $644.7m (€585.7m), according to figures released in the Formula Money Grand Prix Attendance Report.
The data also showed the long-term resilience of F1 as its total ticket revenue increased 35 per cent over the previous decade from $478.1m in 2006, leading to total combined ticket revenues of $6.2bn over the 10-year period.
The 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship will run from March to November spanning 20 races in 20 countries across five continents.


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Is Seed, the slick science magazine started by boy genius Adam Bly, going to be the next casualty of the ad recession?
Seed will continue to exist in print but will change its price, content and publishing schedule, an executive there said.
“In light of the declines in print ad revenue that we and all publishers—including our competitive set—are facing, we’re focusing more of our efforts today on digital,” Fabian Savenay, senior vp, sales and marketing at parent Seed Media Group, wrote in an email. “The print product is very much in existence and will be a part of our future. Although it’s too premature for an announcement, we will soon introduce a new pricing, content, and frequency strategy for the magazine.”
Bly, who at 16 was the youngest researcher at the National Research Council of Canada, according to Seed’s Web site, launched Seed in 2005 to explore science’s impact on business, politics and society. In 2007, the magazine was a finalist for National Magazine Awards in the General Excellence (100,000 to 250,000 circulation) and Design categories.
Published bimonthly, Seed had a circulation of 132,609 in the six months ended Dec. 31, 2008, flat with the year-ago period, per the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Softness in ad spending by automotive, finance and technology marketers has cut into all science/technology magazines (Seed not included). This year through May, ad pages for the category overall declined 30 percent, according to the Mediaweek Monitor.


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Agri-Food Industry Barometer COVID-19 implications
Coping with a new reality
As the COVID-19 virus is strongly affecting our lives and daily routines, people around the world are above all concerned with the health of their family and friends. Besides the impact on human life, organizations also experience major impact from this global pandemic.
As a market intelligence company, we are in touch with a lot of stakeholders from different organizations and keep close track of the consequences of the current situation. We compiled our insights in this blog, to try help you better understand the implications of COVID-19. In this blog we focus on three Agri-Food sectors (Dairy, Bakery, Horti- and agriculture), as their service is now more vital than ever.
The Dutch dairy industry is an economic powerhouse. Yearly, around 14.5 bn. kg of milk is being produced by 17.000 dairy farms. Next to production for local consumption, the majority of produced dairy is for export purposes, representing an export value of €7.7 bn. (2018).
Last month showed a surging demand for dairy in the retail. This was mainly related to basic dairy products, like fresh milk and other dairy like plain yoghurt. Despite the high volumes, margins for suppliers of retail decreased. The increased demand is now stabilizing, consumers experience that there is continuous supply of retail products, and there is no valid reason to keep on stockpiling and emptying the retail shelves.
For dairy producers and processers, keeping their factories operational is a challenging task. Due to additional measures in the light of safety and health, there is a reduction of number of production workers on working teams. This new reality requires flexibility in shift planning and asks for the possibility of rapid operational adjustments in the factory. For now, there are no clear warnings that milk delivery from dairy farms and supply of milk products for retail are in peril.
On a global scale, commodity prices for milk, milk powder and butter are adjusted downwards, due to a reduction in dairy demand from China and major disruptions in the global supply chain. Looking at the future, there is concern about a structural slowdown of export demand for dairy, despite stability in consumer demand. Slowdown could be fuelled by the fact that dairy shipments require more protocols and procedures to be shipped internationally. If this trend continues, it will put even more pressure on the already falling prices of dairy commodities.
What could be the long-term consequence of this pandemic for the dairy industry?
At Hammer, we assume that production and processing companies will re-evaluate their current product portfolio and tend towards diversification to increase resilience in times of crisis. The pandemic will probably also strengthen the already ongoing trend of ‘local for local’ in food production. This will force food producers to adjust their portfolio and re-evaluate current logistics. Also, this crisis uncovers the boundaries of production capacity and shift planning which can lead to operational insights for the future. We also expect more vertical integration within the supply chain, to further reduce uncertainty and risk.
Last period showed a strong demand for flour and raw materials in the bakery sector. Also, retail sales of bread products did grow strongly during the first weeks of March after the announcement of national safety measures to contain the spread of the virus. Similar to demand for dairy, increased demand for bakery was boosted by stockpiling behaviour of consumers but is now stabilizing towards normal levels. This sudden peak in demand did not only occur in the Netherlands, according to Nielsen, e-commerce sales of baking mixes in the US experienced a stunning +489% growth compared to the same period last year.
For manufacturers mainly producing for the foodservice times are undoubtedly very troubling, as restaurants, café’s, schools, airports and canteens are all experiencing a complete shutdown. The total Dutch foodservice market is valued at €21 bn. (ING, 2019). Taking a closer look at bread consumption; almost 39% of bread consumption value takes places out-of-home. Bread producers also experienced bad pre-Eastern weeks. Probably due to the effect of social distancing less family encounters took place and accordingly sales of typical festive Eastern bakery products and confectionery suffered from this.
Bakeries also have to deal with and to adjust to this new reality. Since the new safety measurements only a few customers are allowed to enter the bakery at the same time. This led to the deployment of several new initiatives: traditional bakeries focus on e-commerce for bread sales and offer their clients delivery of fresh bread services by e-bike or other types of transport, or open a to-go counter.
What could be the long-term consequence of this pandemic for the bakery industry?
At Hammer, we assume that when the dust settles down, the processing bakery industry will enlarge their stocks of materials, to be better prepared when other disruptions will arise. This will lead to a short peak in demand. Bakeries delivering to out-of-home (36% of total sales) could suffer for longer time from social distancing policies. It could also be expected that flour processing companies will re-evaluate their current sourcing partners and switch to partners more closely to their own factories to reduce uncertainty in times of crisis. For the traditional craft bakeries, this situation provides them with options for new revenue streams, like e-commerce and delivery, that can sustain also after the crisis.
Horti- and agricultural sector
The Dutch horticulture sector is world-famous and considered a market leader in cultivating, processing and selling of fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs. The Netherlands has 9.000 hectares dedicated for greenhouse horticulture, representing an added value of €7.2 bn. (WUR, 2017) and responsible for 1% of the total Dutch GDP. With respect to retail sales, there was a small spike in sales of paprika, tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables related with health benefits. Wholesale demand has almost been completely diminished.
There is no doubt that the current situation is a devastating blow to the floriculture sector.This should have been a flourishing time for this sector with Easter and Mother’s Day. Instead, massive volumes of flowers are being destroyed due to the declined demand. Floriculture represents a yearly export value of €10 bn. and counts for 10% of total Dutch horticulture export.
The market for fries’ potatoes also heavily suffers under the current circumstances. Producers have a huge surplus, because out-of-home demand has collapsed. The price of 100kg fries’ potatoes took a dive from €15 euro in March 2020 to €2 in the beginning of April 2020 (NieuweOogst, 2020). TheNetherlands is a huge exporter of frozen fries, especially to the United Kingdom. Also, a lot of the produced fries are for consumption within the Netherlands, where there are over 400 fast-food restaurants and almost 5.000 smaller snack bars for which fries play an essential role on the menu.
Another concern in the horticulture sector is the slumbering risk of absence of labor. The harvest of fruits and vegetables heavily depends on the efforts of seasonal workers, mainly living abroad. There is uncertainty among cultivators about their working capacity, which comes fora substantial part from Eastern-European countries. Even when there is enough labor to continue harvesting, there is the risk for corona related diseases among the work force. Forecasted damage for the Dutch greenhouse horticulture sector at this moment is around €2 bn. (LTO).
A minor bright spot is a slight increase in export of horticulture towards China, as the country is recovering somewhat from the current crisis.
What could be the long-term consequence of this pandemic for the horti- and agricultural industry?
Considering long term future, the expectation is that the ‘local for local’ trend will increase, which is unfavourable for vegetables producers in net exporting countries. However, this is positive news for the providers of greenhouses and greenhouse technology since investments in food producing units may be higher on the priority list of net importing and highly urbanized countries.
Source: Hammer, market intelligence


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EATON — Preble County Council on Aging (PCCOA) held its annual Craft Bazaar on Saturday, Nov. 9. According to Senior Center Services Manager Stacey Fullmer, the event is a fundraiser for PCCOA, but they also hope to help local vendors sell their products and help patrons to support local individuals and businesses.
Fullmer has been organizing the event for six years, although it’s been held many more.
This year, there were 30 vendors at the bazaar, which is an increase from last year.
“I love all the different choices that folks do for crafts, home goods, and even delicious desserts,” Fullmer said.
There were over 300 people who attended this year, which is also an increase from previous years.
In addition to the 30 vendors, the Decades Diner was also open to the public during this event. Fullmer explained, this was done for two different reasons.
“We had our Decades Diner open to the public during this event to give folks who a) don’t know where are here a chance to try our delicious and affordable food and b) for folks that maybe can’t get to us during our regular business hours. It is also beneficial to our vendors because they don’t have to leave here to get food,” she said.
Vendors are charged for booth space, but that money goes back towards activities for PCCOA.
For Fullmer, it is important for PCCOA to hold this Craft Bazaar as not only another opportunity for seniors in the area, but also so people can get to know the staff at the Senior Center and see what they have to offer.
“I think this is important to hold each year because it gives a wonderful opportunity for folks to see the Senior Center and to learn about possible services they need or may need, as some staff are available for questions and can refer them to the correct person or to know what the Senior Center is and where it is; but also for a community event where you see community support community with our local vendors. We had several comments that everyone loves our craft bazaar,” Fullmer said.
“I think people enjoy the atmosphere, we are very homey here and that makes a difference. When you can go somewhere and feel like you belong there, it makes that experience more enjoyable. What I like about the craft bazaar is that I find so much stuff that I didn’t realize I needed. It’s a good environment and when we all come together here, we are like a family for the day.
“I want to thank all the vendors we had that day, the folks that showed up, and of course the staff that helped and worked the event. You can’t have a successful event without a good team and here I have an amazing team!”
She added, “We always hold our Craft Bazaar the second Saturday in November from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.. It’s a fun event with great products and you can get a good lunch!”
Reach Kelsey Kimbler at 937-683-4061 or on Twitter @KKimbelr_RH


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GKN Driveline invests in hybrid
Automotive driveline system provider GKN Driveline has teamed up with EVO Electric to manufacture and sell products for hybrid and all-electric vehicles. GKN plans to invest £5m in the venture, made up of both debt and equity. GKN will also acquire 25.1 per cent of Imperial Innovations Group-backed EVO Electric. The venture will be headquartered in the UK.


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The market for mobile telephony is particularly crowded with four major platforms, dozens of manufacturers and hundreds of smartphones. All in a few years ago. However, in this sector, all firms are not necessarily on the same footing, and a study by Gartner has revealed that Apple and Samsung alone would total more than 50% of worldwide smartphone sales. An impressive figure, especially when you consider that it would be a little more than one and a half billion mobile have been sold in 2012.
In total, he would have sold 1.75 billion mobile phones in 2012. In the lot, we obviously for all tastes and all that all these terminals do not necessarily officiate on the high end, but it is still a very impressive figure. Better in the last quarter of last year, a period particularly conducive to the sale, it would be 207.7 million units have been sold, or 38.3% more than the year before in the same period.
As mentioned a little earlier, Apple and Samsung would total in the last quarter of 2012, over 52% of worldwide smartphone sales, against 46.4% in the quarter before. Surprising? Not really, it should be recalled that it is actually September 12 that the bitten apple has unveiled the iPhone 5. Samsung has also not been left since the South Korean manufacturer has released a month later, the Galaxy Note 2 he had presented at the IFA in Berlin.
It should also be noted, that is Samsung occupy the top spot according to the study by Gartner. It would be also the same for Android that is clear winner with 69.7% market share in the fourth quarter of 2012 against 51.3% the year before in the same period. iOS, meanwhile, would happen at the second place with a tiny 20.9% . Over the months and years, it would seem that the green robot takes more top. In the end, we say that the bitten apple might actually be interested in jointly launch the iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 ...
As always when it comes to education, it should nevertheless be very cautious and therefore do not take these figures at face value. It may also be noted that the tables created by Gartner show different results, which is pretty amazing. Unless of course I am not yet awake ... And that is completely possible.


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New merchandise from the upcoming Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse confirms another Spider hero who will be joining the roster for Sony’s animated Marvel sequel.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse saw Shameik Moore’s Miles Morales navigating his newfound spider powers as he teamed up with Spider-Men, -Women and -Hams from various universes, including Jake Johnson’s Peter B. Parker, Hailee Steinfeld’s Spider-Gwen and Nicolas Cage’s Spider-Man Noir.
It looks like the sequel is getting ready to introduce even more Spider-People and one new hero has just been revealed.
Images have recently surfaced online showing Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse tie-in toys, including versions of the electric guitar and horned mask belonging to Hobie Brown – Spider-Punk.
In the comics, the anarchic Spider-Punk comes from Earth-138, where he uses his spider powers and his ax to fight the power. It looks like Across the Spider-Verse will see Hobie Brown rocking out with Miles Morales, as his mask and guitar have been spotted hitting shop shelves already.
Twitter user @MCUMarvels shared images of a “Spider-Punk Web Blast” guitar and Spider-Punk mask going on sale. Check out the new Spider-Verse merchandise below:
Following the critically acclaimed first film, expectations will be high for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. It looks like the sequel isn’t shying away from taking chances, introducing some of Marvel’s wildest takes on the wall-crawler, such as Spider-Punk.
Here is the synopsis for the highly-anticipated Spider-Verse sequel:
Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar®-winning Spider-Verse saga, an epic adventure that will transport Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man across the Multiverse to join forces with Gwen Stacy and a new team of Spider-People to face off with a villain more powerful than anything they have ever encountered.
Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson from a screenplay written by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Dave Callaham, the film features the voices of Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Jake Johnson, Oscar Isaac, and Issa Rae.
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is currently set to be released on June 2, 2023. Stay tuned for all the latest news surrounding the film and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content.


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Workers debug devices at the terminal building of Beijing Daxing International Airport in Beijing, capital of China, June 19, 2019. (Photo: China News Service)
(ECNS) - Passengers can now book air trips through Beijing Daxing International Airport, which will become operational on Sept. 30, at a cheaper cost than flights through Beijing Capital International Airport, according to Qunar, an online travel-booking platform.
Passengers will be able to travel through the new airport to Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Kunming, among other domestic routes, from Sept. 30.
According to information available on the platform, one flight departing from the new airport for Guangzhou costs 1,578 yuan, which is cheaper than a comparable flight from Beijing Capital International Airport, which is 1,750 yuan at least.
International flights from the new airport to London, Helsinki, Casablanca, Fukuoka, and Kathmandu are also cheaper than those departing from the older airport.
Beijing Daxing International Airport, located 46 kilometers south of downtown Beijing, has been designed to relieve pressure on the overcrowded Beijing Capital International Airport. It sits at the junction of Beijing's Daxing District and Langfang, a city in neighboring Hebei Province. It is forecasted to see its passenger throughput reach 72 million in 2025, and further increase to 100 million by 2040.


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Roku shares plunged after the video streaming company’s earnings fell far short of expectations, and a Pivotal Research analyst doesn’t expect it to bounce back.
Jeffrey Wlodarczak, who rates stocks at Hold, noted that costs rise rapidly as the economy moves into recession, and at a time when
and Google, rivals in the streaming sector, are gaining momentum. He said the stock will remain under pressure and lowered his contest from $80 to $60, saying the stock would be valued fairly around his new target.
Roku (ticker: ROKU) did not respond to a request for comment. The stock fell 26% to $63.06 during afternoon trading on Friday. If the stock closes at this level, that would be the biggest percentage drop ever.
The company reported a net loss of 82 cents for the second quarter after close of trading on Thursday. The analyst consensus followed by FactSet was for a loss of 71 cents a share.
“ROKU reported a downright terrible” second quarter, Wlodarczak said. “The main question about these results is whether indeed:
(stock) is Broku.” He noted that the company’s spending on sales and marketing grew by more than 82% in the first half of 2022, while spending on research and development increased by 68%. General and administrative costs were 32% higher, he said.
The company said it is taking steps to significantly slow down operating cost and workforce growth, but Wlodarczak believes that could be difficult. For example, the company signed a long-term lease for 250,000 square feet of space in New York’s Times Square in January, when the economy was in better shape, he said.
In addition, the challenging period ahead is likely to lead to even more intense competition and Roku’s competitors, which have delivered better-than-expected results, are better positioned, he said.
Amazon’s second-quarter revenue rose 7% to $121.2 billion, while analysts followed by FactSet expected $119.3 billion. Roku reported revenue of $764.4 million in the last quarter. Wall Street Expected $804 Million
Write to Karishma Vanjani at [email protected]


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The Food Bank of the Southern Tier started its annual "Check Out Hunger" event Thursday.
For the past 22 years, the Food Bank has partnered with local grocery stores to bring in financial donations for hunger-relief efforts locally. The goal is also to raise awareness on hunger in The Southern Tier.
So, through March 5th, donation coupons will be available at a number of local store checkout registers for shoppers. Those interested can make donations in their checkout process.


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Japan will provide a subsidy up to 92.9 billion yen ($680 million) to Kioxia Corp. and Western Digital Corp. for a semiconductor production facility as part of efforts to secure stable domestic chip production, the industry minister said Tuesday.
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Koichi Hagiuda said the government had approved the capital investment plan to enhance the capacity of the facility, which is a joint venture by Kioxia with the U.S. chip giant.
"The plan will contribute to developing a resilient chip supply chain, making progress in the semiconductor industry as well as strengthening Japan-U.S. cooperation," Hagiuda said, referring to the facility in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture.
The development of a resilient supply chain for semiconductors is likely to be on the agenda when Hagiuda visits the United States and holds the first economic "two-plus-two" dialogue involving foreign and industry ministers of the two countries on Friday in Washington.
"We appreciate the support of the Japanese government and will continue to produce cutting-edge flash memory which is indispensable for a digital society where cloud services, 5G communications, IoT, AI and automated driving are expanding," said Nobuo Hayasaka, president of Kioxia, formerly known as Toshiba Memory Corp.
With the subsidy, Kioxia and Western Digital said they will continue to accelerate the development and production of cutting-edge flash memory at the Yokkaichi plant as well as contribute to fostering chip-related industries and talent.
The joint venture manufacturing facility will produce 3D flash memory including 112- and 162-layer as well as future nodes, with the initial production output eyed this fall.
In June, the government announced its decision to provide up to 476 billion yen in subsidy for a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. subsidiary for the ongoing construction of a plant in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan.
The plant, a joint venture of TSMC, Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corp. and Denso Corp., will produce chips mainly for Japanese clients.


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Welcome to Champagne official website
By visiting this site, I certify that I am of legal drinking age in my country of residence
On 14 September, over 30 reporters and 180 representatives of the Australian trade assembled at Dolton House in Sydney for the great Champagne wine sampling. Its popularity heightened by being held only once every other year, this event was a hot topic in social media.
The Comité Champagne


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Union textile minister Smriti Irani Saturday urged textile businessmen to prioritise use of organic dyes and work towards branding like “Garments Without Guilt” as created by Sri Lanka which helped increase exports. She was in Surat to inaugurate “Source India 2016” at Sarsana where buyers from nearly 33 countries came to source textiles. Irani also met members of the Southern Gujarat Textile Processors Association.
The Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI) also made representations before her to reduce their excise and power bills. SGCCI president B S Agrawal told this paper, “We have demanded reduction of excise duty on textile goods from 12.5 percent to 6 percent. We have also demanded that the power rates in Gujarat should be at par with other states. Earlier, 30 percent subsidy was given under Technology Upgradation Fund (TUF) scheme, but it had been reduced to 10 percent.We have demanded that it should be 30 percent again.”
Irani also met representatives of three main segments of textile industry in Surat, Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association, Federation of South Gujarat Weavers Association and Southern Gujarat Textile Procession Association.
She told the industry members, “In this period of competition Indian silk cloth is being sold in the international market by the name of “Thai Silk”. Surat has 40 percent market of the country’s total synthetics production and silk textile industry sector is well established in southern India. Along with synthetic sector, my advice to the industry players of Surat is to look into the silk sector segment to tap more new business opportunities.” She said that a meeting of power loom industry members will be held in Delhi on August 22 to help the sector.


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Findvrporn.com global VR porn news and digest for May, 10, 2021: Paola Hard, Jewelz Blu, Nikki Riddle, Sharlotte Thorn, Dixie Lynn, more
Global VR porn industry news update and picture review analysis by the Internet’s 1st VR porn review site, findvrporn.com. for May 8, 2021. Chad White Twitter special, Vina Sky, Sarah Jessie, more….
Global VR porn update/news on 5/4/21 including VR Bangers, Naughty America, POVR, VRporn.com and more with pics analysis and reviews.
Findvrporn.com global VR porn news and update digest for May 3, 2021 including Sara Jay, Angel Youngs, anti-subreddit ranting and more fun sheeeet, man.
Global VR porn industry news update and picture review analysis by the Internet’s 1st VR porn review site, findvrporn.com. for May 1, 2021.
Global VR porn update and review by Findvrporn.com for April 30, 2021 featuring VR Hush’s Indica Monroe, Naughty Party Girls twerking, much more!
#Findvrporn update about the global VR porn industry for April 29, 2021: Zaawaadi, Tina Fire, flexy gymnasts, latex suits, pee pee, beauty, truth, love, 3D!
Findvrporn.com VR porn digest/survey and review for April 28, 2021. A ton of thoughts and pics including Lily Larimar, Sia, Petra, foot fetish VR and all bow down to Lu Elissa and her purple panties!
Findvrporn.com updates about the latest VR porn scenes, studios, news, pictures, developments, predictions, discounts for April 27, 2021.


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Miranda Kerr may be the biggest model to come from Australia since Elle Macpherson in the '80s, and it comes as no surprise that she looked simply stunning in a bronze gown with beautiful fashion jewelry at the inaugural Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards this past weekend, the Daily Mail reports.
The Victoria Secret model's gown also showed a little leg with a thigh-high slit. She paired the look with big earrings and a few rings. A beige, sequined clutch and gold strappy heels completed the outfit, which turned many heads as she walked the red carpet.
Kerr turned to Twitter after the show to say, "'Just finished at the AACTA awards. A wonderful night for Australian film and television!"
Also at the event was Cate Blanchett, in an eye-catching gold knee-length dress. The Alexander McQueen gown was accompanied by a gold bracelet, sparkly clutch and peep-toe pumps. Model Megan Gale donned a lacy gown and actress Rachael Taylor chose a revealing Dion Lee creation, according to the news source.


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Apple has confirmed its iPhone 12 handsets will be its first to work on faster 5G networks.
The company has also extended the range to include a new “Mini” model that has a smaller 5.4in screen.
The US firm bucked a wider industry downturn by increasing its handset sales over the past year.
But some experts say the new features give Apple its best opportunity for growth since 2014, when it revamped its line-up with the iPhone 6.
“5G will bring a new level of performance for downloads and uploads, higher quality video streaming, more responsive gaming, real-time interactivity and so much more,” said chief executive Tim Cook.
There has also been a cosmetic refresh this time round, with the sides of the devices getting sharper, flatter edges.
The higher-end iPhone 12 Pro models also get bigger screens than before and a new sensor to help with low-light photography.
However, for the first time none of the devices will be bundled with headphones or a charger. Apple said the move was to help reduce its impact on the environment.
“Tim Cook [has] the stage set for a super-cycle 5G product release,” commented Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities.
He added that about 40% of the 950 million iPhones in use had not been upgraded in at least three-and-a-half years, presenting a “once-in-a-decade” opportunity.
It added that the screen was also higher resolution and used a “ceramic shield” to protect its display to offer “four times better drop performance”.
A new A14 Bionic chip – the first to be built on a five nanometre process – is being used to carry out more advanced enhancements to photos.
The firm said it would deliver night-mode selfies without using the flash, as well as better deal with colour, contrast and noise in challenging settings.
It showed off a forthcoming mobile version of League of Legends as an example of the “console-quality games” it could now run smoothly.
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Epic Nation Tickets Announces Cheap NHL Hockey Tickets Just Released(March 12, 2013)
Raleigh, NC (PRWEB) March 12, 2013
The Chicago Blackhawks amazing streak to begin the NHL season may be over, but there has still plenty of hard hitting hockey action to come. Epic Nation Tickets offers discount hockey tickets to all games.
Cheap hockey tickets are usually hard to come by. There are many races heating up across the Eastern and Western conference. With the season being shortened to only 48 games, every game counts even more than normal. The season is just over halfway complete for most teams, as many teams are gearing up for their run to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Tickets will continue to be gobbled at a fast pace.
Currently tickets to see the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, and Toronto Maple Leafs rank in the top 10 of top selling sporting events according to Ticket News. Also, the likes of Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes, Montreal Canadiens, Anaheim Ducks, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils are all fighting to be contenders.
This season is shaping up to have an exciting finish. Buildings have been sold out from coast to coast, so Epic Nation Tickets is the best source to find cheap NHL hockey tickets.
Epic Nation Tickets offers prime discounted seats for some of the most prestigious theater and sports events taking place in the United States. Tickets to see Justin Timberlake and Jay Z are hot in the concert category, while tickets to see the Miami Heat are the hottest selling sporting event.
Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/EpicNation/Hockey/prweb10521120.htm.
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Partnership Will increase Halfway’s Fleet Utilization and Addresses Rising Demand for Autos on the HyreCar Platform
HyreCar Inc. (NASDAQ: HYRE), the carsharing market for ridesharing, meals, and package deal supply providers, immediately introduced a partnership with Halfway Automotive Rental, Inc. HyreCar’s revolutionary platform will enhance utilization of Halfway’s stock to benefit from rising alternatives in industrial car leases.
Halfway Rental Automotive, Inc. is the biggest privately held rental automotive company in Los Angeles and part of the Hankey Group, with eight rental places in Southern California. The Hankey Group’s pursuits embody automotive, monetary, expertise, insurance coverage, and real-estate enterprises and holds over $9.5 billion in belongings.
“We’ve seen substantial development in curiosity from rental companies which can be contemplating HyreCar’s platform to extend fleet utilization,” stated Joe Furnari, HyreCar Chief Government Officer. “We consider that important alternatives will proceed for car leases from meals and package deal supply drivers. For HyreCar, this might be incremental enterprise as rideshare continues to recuperate.”
“This partnership exemplifies our focus to supply revolutionary transportation options for nearly any want at Halfway. Our preliminary pilot program has confirmed profitable with HyreCar and we intend to dedicate a bigger portion of our stock to fulfill the demand for Southern California,” stated Brett Lippel, president of Halfway Auto, former TrueCar VP, in addition to Enterprise Hire a Automotive government. Mr. Lippel added, “One other advantage of the HyreCar partnership is that Halfway can leverage the Hankey Group of corporations to profit from car gross sales and financing for car renters that ultimately want to develop into car house owners.”
HyreCar Inc. (NASDAQ: HYRE) is a nationwide chief working a carsharing market for ridesharing, meals, and package deal supply nationwide by way of its proprietary expertise platform. The Firm has established a number one presence in Mobility as a Service (MaaS) by way of particular person car house owners, sellers, and OEM’s, who’ve been disrupted by automotive asset sharing. By offering a novel alternative by way of our protected, safe, and dependable market, HyreCar is reworking the trade by empowering all to revenue from Mobility as a Service. For extra data please go to hyrecar.com.
About Halfway Automotive Rental
Halfway Automotive Rental is the biggest independently owned automotive rental firm in Los Angeles. Since 1972, Halfway has been serving the Southern California market with an emphasis on the higher Los Angeles space. Halfway has developed an award-winning model primarily based on unparalleled service, a various fleet of automobiles, a personalised strategy, and a passionate group.


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'Flexitarians' driving global move away from meat consumption: study
Wednesday 31 August 2011
Sales of meat have slowed to a crawl around the world, thanks in part to the growing number of 'flexitarians' - that murkily-defined group of part-time vegetarians - and public health warnings outlining the perils of red meat consumption.
According to an August report from Euromonitor International, meat was one of the worst performers over the 2005 to 2010 period, with sales growing less than 14 percent over the six-year period. Only vegetables fared slightly worse, with a growth rate of 11 percent.
Meanwhile, though consumers put meat on the backburner, pulses like lentils and chickpeas gained in popularity, as did nuts and fruits which experienced a volume growth of 19 and 18 percent respectively.
The global trend is a reflection of the growing movement away from meat consumption, the report pointed out.
Red meat in particular has been getting a bad rap from scientists, public health authorities and governments around the world. Earlier this year, a groundbreaking study found a direct link between the consumption of red meats and processed meats and the increased risk of colorectal cancer. The findings prompted public health authorities in the UK to advise cutting meat consumption to 70 g a day.
Celebrity-led crusades championing animal welfare and environmental advocates have also made an impact on the meat market, the report said, as a growing number of consumers have either adopted a vegetarian diet or significantly reduced their meat intake - a population of semi-vegetarians also known as 'flexitarians.'
Celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in the UK were also identified as influential chefs and food personalities who have been able to change consumers' eating habits by raising public awareness on animal welfare issues.
And the Meatless Mondays movement has become popular among health and eco-conscious consumers.
Citing a Harris Interactive study, the report also pointed out that while one percent of US citizens described themselves as vegetarians in 1971, that percentage grew to 3.4 percent in 2009.
Elsewhere, India has the largest non meat-eating population in the world with an estimated 31 percent of that country's largely Hindu population described as lacto-vegetarians: they consume milk and honey, but no other animal-derived products.
Vegetarianism was also found to be fairly common in Taiwan, Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Israel and the UK.
Where the movement has gained no traction, meanwhile, is China and Japan, two of the world's biggest consumer markets.
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